IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-S) 


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Photographic 

Sciences 

Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y,  14580 

(716)  872-4S03 


4^    #?  ^    M 


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CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHM/ICIVIH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  /  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiques 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes/Notes  techniques  et  bibliographiques 


The  Institute  has  attempted  to  obtain  the  best 
original  copy  available  for  filming.  Features  of  this 
copy  which  may  be  bibliographically  unique, 
which  may  alter  any  of  the  images  in  the 
reproduction,  or  which  may  significantly  change 
the  usual  method  of  filming,  are  checked  below. 


• 


D 


D 


D 
D 


D 


D 


Coloured  covers/ 
Couverture  de  couleur 


I      I    Covers  damaged/ 


Couverture  endommag6e 

Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restaurde  et/ou  pellicul6e 


□    Cover  title  missing/ 
Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 

r~|    Coloured  maps/ 


Cartes  g6ographiques  en  couleur 

Coloured  ink  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)/ 
Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 


□    Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations/ 
Planches  et/ou  illustrations  en  couleur 


Bound  with  other  material/ 
Reli6  avec  d'autres  documents 

Tight  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion 
along  interior  margin/ 

Lareliure  serrde  peut  causer  de  I'ombre  ou  de  la 
distortion  le  long  de  la  marge  intdrieure 

Blank  leaves  added  during  restoration  may 
appear  within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these 
have  been  omitted  from  filming/ 
II  se  peut  que  certaines  pages  blanches  ajout6es 
lors  d'une  restauration  apparaissent  dans  le  texte. 
mais,  lorsque  ce!a  6tait  possible,  ces  pages  n'ont 
pas  6x6  film^es. 

Additional  comments:/ 
Commentaires  suppl^mentaires; 


L'Institut  a  microfilm^  le  meilleur  exemplaire 
qu'il  lui  a  6X6  possible  de  se  procurer.  Les  details 
de  cet  exemplaire  qui  sont  peut-dtre  uniques  du 
point  de  vue  bibliographique,  qui  peuvent  modifier 
une  image  reproduite,  ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une 
modification  dans  la  m^thode  normale  de  fiimage 
sont  indiquds  ci-dessous. 


I      I    Coloured  pages/ 


D 


D 


Pages  de  couleur 

Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommagdes 


I      I    Pages  restored  and/or  laminated/ 


Pages  restaur6es  et/ou  pellicul6es 

Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxec 
Pages  d^colordes,  tachet6es  ou  piqudes 

Pages  detached/ 
Pages  ddtach^es 

Showthrough/ 
Transparence 

Quality  of  prir 

Qualitd  indgale  de  I'impression 

Includes  supplementary  materii 
Comprend  du  materiel  suppl^mentaire 

Only  edition  available/ 
Seule  Edition  disponible 


I      I  Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 

I      I  Pages  detached/ 

r~71  Showthrough/ 

r~|  Quality  of  print  varies/ 

I      I  Includes  supplementary  material/ 

I      I  Only  edition  available/ 


Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata 
slips,  tissues,  etc.,  have  been  refilmed  to 
ensure  the  best  possible  image/ 
Les  pages  totalement  ou  partiellement 
obscurcies  par  un  feuiltet  d'errata,  une  pelure, 
etc.,  ont  dt6  filmdes  6  nouveau  de  fapon  6 
obtenir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 


This  item  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below/ 

Ce  document  est  filmi  au  taux  de  reduction  indiquA  ci-dessous. 

10X  14X  18X  22X 


26X 


30X 


J 


18X 


16X 


20X 


24X 


28X 


32X 


ire 

ddtaiis 
es  du 
modifier 
er  une 
filmage 


The  copy  filmed  here  has  been  reproduced  thanks 
to  the  generosity  of: 

IVIetropolitan  Toronto  Library 
History  Department 

The  images  appearing  here  are  the  best  quaiity 
possibie  considering  the  condition  and  legibility 
of  the  original  copy  and  in  keeping  with  the 
filming  contract  specifications. 


L'exemplaire  film6  f ut  reproduit  grAce  A  la 
g6n6rositA  de: 

Metropolitan  Toronto  Library 
Histor/  Department 

Les  images  suivantes  ont  6t6  reprodultes  avec  le 
plus  grand  soin.  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  et 
de  la  nettet6  de  l'exemplaire  film6.  et  en 
conformity  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
filmage. 


Original  copies  in  printed  paper  covers  are  filmed 
beginning  with  the  front  ccver  and  ending  on 
the  last  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, or  the  back  cover  when  appropriate.  All 
other  original  copies  are  filmed  beginning  on  the 
first  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, and  ending  on  the  last  page  with  a  printed 
or  illustrated  impression. 


6es 


Les  exempiaires  originaux  dont  la  couverture  en 
papier  est  imprimde  sont  film6s  en  commenpant 
par  le  premier  plat  et  en  terminant  soit  par  la 
dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration,  soit  par  le  second 
plat,  selon  le  cas.  Tous  les  autres  exempiaires 
originaux  sont  film6s  en  commenpant  par  la 
premidre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  -^  (meaning  "COI\l- 
TINUED"),  or  the  symbol  y  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 


Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaftra  sur  la 
dernidre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  le  symbols  — ►  signifie  "A  SUIVRE",  le 
symbols  V  signifie  "FIN". 


re 


Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  Atre 
filmAs  d  des  taux  de  reduction  diff6rents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  dtre 
reproduit  en  un  seul  clich6, 11  est  film6  d  partir 
de  Tangle  sup6rieur  gauche,  de  gauche  d  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  nicessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  m^thode. 


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16  pelure, 

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JULY  iO,  1^8V^ 


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.  fnh:r  AS xr VERSA RY  of  the  discovery  of  the  Mississippi  fij, 


MARQUETTE  AND  JOLIET.  ^ /•  ;  .    , 


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i^t^%^::  H.  J.  HEWITT,  PRINTER,  27  ROSE  STREET. 


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ADDEESS 


«%B^  r*T ' 


DELIVERED  BEFORE 


t-v, 


The  Missouri  Historical  Society, 


,■:?:■■;■(?  ■'''^i 


JULY   19,   1878, 


rilE  ANNirERHARY  OF  THE  DltiCOVEnY  OF  THE  MISSLSSIPI'I  BY 
ifARQUETTE  AND  JOLIET. 


By  JOHN  GILiMAKY  SHEA. 


■4    ■  ' 


New  Yoiuv  : 
H.  J.  HEWITT,  PRINTER,  27  ROSE  STREET. 

1878. 


va*=^^a 


o 


JV/ 


/ 


-i(  ! 


ADDRESS. 


I 


Mkmberb  ov.  thr  Missouri  Historical  So- 
ciety, Ladies  it  ND  Gentlemen  of  St  .Lodis: 
It  is  with  singular  diffidence  tha^  I  rise  to  ad 
dress  you  on  an  occasion  which  excises  such 
a  noble  enlhusiasm,  aid  displays  iu  your  Stioe 
such  a  laudable  desire  to  commemorata  the 
historic  past. 

The  Queen  City  of  the  Mississippi  valley,  so 
rich  in  all  the  traditions  and  legends  of  by- 
gone days,  with  all  its  romantic-  associations, 
could  summon  many  of  her  own  sons,  many 
from  the  proud  State  of  Missouri,  many  an 
orator  from  the  length  and  breadth  of  the 
Mississippi  valley,  who  would  invest  thn  theme 
of  this  day's  celebration  with  all  the  heaven- 
given  genius  of  the  orator  and  jioet. 

Before  such  an  audience  as  I  sba  gathered 
here  I  feel  all  the  more  deeply  the  great  honor 
you  confer  upon  me,  and  while  I  thank  the 
Missouri  Hi-storical  Sooietj^  and  the  citizens  of 
St.  Louis  for  the  distinction,  I  congratulate 
them  that  an  eloquent  son  of  Missouri  is  to  ad 
dress  you,  and  by  his  flowing  words  make  this 
anniversary  indelible  in  your  minds. 

Called  by  your  flattering  choice  from  a 
scholar's  seclusion  on  the  shores  of  the  Atlan- 
tic, i  find  myself  in  the  midst  of  a  brilliant  as- 
semblage, welcomed  by  the  merit,  the  learn- 
ing, ibe  wealth,  the  culture,  and  refinement  of 
the  real  centre  of  our  great  republic,  the  ciiy 
of  St.  Louis. 

You  have  dedicated  this  day  to  an  event  in 
our  early  history,  but  one  so  intimately  con- 
nected with  the  greatness  of  the  country  that 
you  evoke  for  it  all  that  can  kindle  yjur  en- 
thusiasm and  exalt  it  to  a  niche  of  hon  or  and 
respect. 

And  yet  there  are  few  events  in  human  an- 
nals thai,  in  the  persons  of  the  chief  actors,  or 
the  attendant  circumstances  mid  accessories, 
teem  so  incommensurate  with  the  wonderful 


'I 


results  that  ensued,  results  fraught  with  inte- 
rest to  millions  of  those  whom  Christianity 
and  civilization  had  fitted  for  the  highest  and 
noblest  use  of  the  blessings  bestowed  by  a  kind 
Providence. 

Two  hundred  and  flvo  years  a  ro  this  very 
day  two  bark  canoes  were  launched  at  a 
Quappa  town  near  the  Arkansas  to  stem  the 
mighty  tide  of  the  Mississippi.  There  seemed 
little  in  this  to  give  the  actors  a  place  in  his- 
tory, measured  by  the  standard  of  those  who 
see  greatness  only  in  the  victorious  battle-fleld 
and  no  laurels  that  are  not  crimsoned  with  hu- 
min  blood.  But  let  us  stiidy  this  group  of 
pea  refill  conquerors.  There  are  no  other  white 
men  within  six  hundred  miles  of  them.  The 
Spaniards  in  St,  Augustine,  which  bad  just 
celebrated  Its  first  centennial,  and  the  English 
in  their  ntw  settlement  at  Charleston  were 
nearer  by  several  hundred  miles  than  any 
countrymen  of  the  bold  explorers. 

Alone  in  the  wilderness,  with  nature  in  all 
her  majesty  speaking  her  lessons  from  river 
aud  plain,  from  wooded  upland  and  savannas 
rich  in  tropic  vegetation,  stands  a  thoughtful 
man  in  the  worn  garb  of  Ji  mis'^ionarj',  a  face 
that  impresses  you  with  the  holiness  of  his  life, 
a  frame  apparently  ill  fitted  for  the  rugged 
career  which  haaaged  it  prematurely — a  mm 
ot  iatellect,  piety,  and  action,  his  nearest 
con?panion,  clear  and  frank,  a  man  of  energy 
and  power,  with  a  bearing  of  culture,  study, 
and  observation.  His  bronzed  features,  his 
garb  of  French  frontiersman  could  not  for  a 
moment  induce  you  to  confound  him  with  the 
coarser  element  with  which  his  life  threw  him 
in  contact. 

Marquette  and  Joliet  stand  at  the  water's 
edge  amid  a  crowd  of  Indians  from  the  nearest 
village,  their  five  boatmen,  who  had  plied  their 
paddles  on  many  a  stream  and  lake,  push  the 
ligQt  barks  into  the  waters  of  the  Mississippi. 
A  gleam  of  pride  and  satisfaction,  of  holier  joy 
and  consolation,  light  up  the  countenances  of 
the  two  explorers. 

It  was,  indeed,  a  moment  of  triumph.  They 
had  solved  a  question  of  geographical  science 
that  had  long  engaged  the  thougnts  of  mission- 
ary and  pioneer,  though  the  learned  societies 
in  Europe  knew  nothing  of  it.  The  great 
Western  river,  at  first  dimly  heard  of,  gradu- 
ally more  clearly  recognized  in  Indian  talks 


3 


had  been  reached,  had  been  navigated  with  its 
current  for  a  whole  month  ;  its  course  was 
known,  its  value  and  importance  were  Icaown, 
and  now  these  two,  crowned  with  success, 
were  to  bear  back  to  civilization  the  knowledge 
acquired,  and  to  tell  astonished  Europe  that 
the  canvas-winged  ship  could  penetraie  into 
the  very  heart  of  the  American  continent  by 
one  of  the  migh;iest  rivers  of  earth. 

As  they  stood  there  on  the  17th  of  July,  1673, 
thev  felt  that  their  work  was  accomplished. 
Its  importance  they  saw  more  clparly  than 
most  of  their  generation,  but  with  all  their 
gaze  into  futurity  they  would  h  ive  been  pro- 
phets, indeed,  could  they  have  droamed  of  the 
Alissis«ippi  as  we  behold  it,  could  they  realize 
what  I  behold. 

What  a  change  from  that  solitary  group  of 
white  men  on  the  river's  brink,  with  a  hand- 
ful of  savages  and  a  wretched  Indian  hamlet, 
to  the  millions  in  splendid  cities  and  towns, 
in  cultured  farms  and  teeming  plantations  ; 
the  home  of  science,  literature,  art,  invention; 
bearing  the  richest  fruits  of  material,  aesthe- 
tic, intellectual  development. 

We  meet  to  shaA  the  joy  of  Marquette  and 
Joliet  on  that  memorable  day,  an  I  to  pay  our 
tribute  of  honor  to  the  two  men  whose  studies 
led  to  the  expedition,  who  so  bravely  under- 
took and  so  satisfactorily  effected  the  explora- 
tion. 

Joliet  and  Marquette  are  well  worthy  of  a 
nation's  reverence.  The  discovery  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi was  uot  a  mpre  chance  encounter  in  an 
aimless  roving.  It  was  well  considered, 
planned  on  information  long  and  patiently  ac- 
quired, and  carried  out  with  prudence,  cau- 
tion, and  exact  observation. 

Spain  knew  of  a  great  river  traversing  this 
land,  but  she  took  no  steps  to  explore  it  or 
study  its  future  bearing  on  the  interests  of 
mankind.  The  remnant  of  the  expedition  un- 
der Famphilo  de  Narvaez  may  be  pardoned 
for  giving  no  great  thought  to  the  mighty 
river  which  formed  such  an  obstacle  in  their 
fatal  courie  from  Pioiida  of  disaster  to  some 
outpost  of  their  countrymen  in  Mexico.  Soto, 
"tlie  fourth  and  greatest  tyrant,"  asLasCasas 
calls  him,  reached  the  river  and  ascended  it, 
unconscious  that  it  was  to  be  his  tomb.  It  is  not 
impossible  that  he  stood  with  his  gaunt  and 
half -naked  band,  red  with  Indian  blood,  and 


a 


pursued  by  the  imprecations  ef  desolated  vil- 
lages, stood  on  this  very  spot  where  we  gather 
to-day.  But  their  knowledge  of  the  river  was 
acquired  in  vain.  The  Spaniards  in  New  Mexi- 
co had  sent  oat  expeditions  penetrating 
through  the  plains  to  many  of  tne  western 
branches  of  the  great  river,  and  in  all  proba- 
bility to  its  banks. 

But  the  object  of  all  search  on  their  part 
was  gold,  and  gold  on  the  surface.  Witu  no 
evidence  'at  once  of  the  existence  of  that 
metal,  Spain  neglected  to  take  any  higher 
view  or  to  make  the  knowledge  obtained  by 
her  explorerH  of  any  advantage  to  herself  or 
mankind.  Stories  of  fabled  empires  that  out- 
rivallei  in  gold  and  silver  the  pomp  of  Mex'co 
or  Peru  light  up  some  of  these  New  Mexican 
accounts,  ant^  were  borrowed  by  La  Uontan 
and  Sagean.  but  they  failed  to  tt>mpt  the  suc- 
cessors of  rhilip  and  Charles  to  occupy  the 
valley  of  the  great  river. 

The  handful  of  Jesuit  missionaries  in  Cana- 
da looked  at  it  in  a  different  light.  It  is  to  their 
great  credit  that,  while  pursuing  their  noble 
attempt  to  convert  the  red  men,  they  were 
far-sighted,  impressed  \Ah  the  resources 
and  advantages  of  this  great  country,  and 
confl'lent  of  its  future.  Few  in  number,  for 
in  a  period  of  two  hundred  years  they  num- 
bered in  all  their  colleges  and  missions  only 
two  hundred  and  twenty,  and  rarely  more 
than  thirty  at  any  one  time,  scattered  from  the 
Oulf  of  St.  Lawrence  to  the  banks  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, these  cultivated  men  studied  the  topo- 
graphy, resources,  and  products  ot  the  coun- 
try, in  the  sole  view  of  the  future  extension 
of  European  and  Christian  influence,  that  a 
new  Christendom  might  grow  up  here  and  the 
wild  tribes  be  won  to  its  bosom. 

Doing  their  duty  manfully  in  the  living  pre- 
sent to  the  little  native  flock  that  each  could 
gather,  chastening  as  they  could  the  rough 
pioneer,  and  holding  him  to  the  civilization 
he  left  far  behind,  the  missionaries  studied 
the  new  land  of  America.  Year  by  year  they 
repoited  the  information  they  acquired  of  the 
unlmown  interior  of  America,  the  relation  of 
tribes  and  languat^es,  the  natural  features 
and  pathways.  Pushing  far  ahead  of  the 
mo<!t  daring  trader,  they  reached  tribe  after 
tribe,  till  then  u'heard  of,  gave  them  the  flrst 
elementary  knowledge  of  religious  truth,  and 


planted  the  cross.  Many  fell  ;  the  accident  of 
the  way,  the  prowling  savage,  the  cold-blood- 
ed torture  at  the  hand»  of  ferocious  war  par- 
tieB,  all  these  thinned  the  ranlcs  of  the  zealous 
missionaries,  but  they  never  checked  their 
advance.  Bpain  might  abandon  lands  where 
there  was  no  gold  glittering  on  the  surface  ; 
the  French  Jesuits  never  recoiled  ;  the  suffer- 
ings each  endured,  the  fate  of  their  com- 
panions only  quickened  their  courage  and 
stimulated  them  to  further  and  uobler  exer- 
tion. 

I  can  pav  tribuie  to  these  heroic  men  with 
no  fear  of  nAne  supposed  partial.  Bancroft, 
Farkman,  Sparks,  Kip,  all  thoughtful  writers 
of  our  country,  whose  theme  it  has  ever  been, 
are  in  absolute  harmony  on  the  point.  Stand- 
ing in  this  vallej?^,  which  French  zeal  appre- 
ciated and  occupied,  1  pay  my  tribute  freely, 
for  I  am  not  of  French  origin  ;  the  ancestors 
of  mine  then  in  the  land  were  among  the  stem 
settlers  of  the  New  E>g1and  coast,  men  nar- 
rower in  their  views,  thinking  less  of  humani- 
ty at  large  than  of  themselves,  knowing  two 
hundred  years  ago  less  of  the  country  a  hun- 
dred miles  from  the  coast  than  the  French  did 
of  tens  of  thousands  of  square  miles  of  the  in- 
terior. 

Studying  out  rude  maps,  traced  by  In- 
dians on  the  sand  or  on  bark,  the  Jesuit  mis- 
sionary became  satisfied  that  while  no  large 
stream  entered  ^\w  lakes,  the  country  to  the 
FOuth  was  drained  by  a  mighty  river,  its  name 
aMionsr  the  tribes  they  knew  was  just  this, 
Great  River — Mississippi.  Where  did  it  rise  ? 
Whither  did  it  flow  ?  Marquette,  Dablon, 
Alloue:!  recognized  the  Wisconsin  as  evidently 
a  branch  of  this  great  river,  and  urged  the 
Canadian  Government  to  authorize  or  attempt 
its  exploration.  A  knowledge  of  its  course 
and  mouth  might  be  of  incalculable  advantage 
to  France,  and  open  a  wide  realm  for  Chris- 
tian missionary  effort.  The  representations 
seem  to  have  found  little  favor,  but  when 
Father  Dablon,  returning  from  years  of  mis- 
sion labor  in  Wisconsin,  becamx  superior  of 
his  order  at  Quebec  he  was  brought  into  direct 
contact  with  the  governor  and  intendant.  His 
vivid  descri'jfiions  of  the  West  and  of  its  won- 
derful advantages,  the  ease  with  which  an  ex- 
ploration could  be  made  of  the  great  river, 
told  at  last  on  Talon,  whose  able  administra- 


t 


6 


tion  of  Canadian  affairs  as  intendant  won 
him  the  name  of  the  Colbert  of  New  France. 

Just  as  he  was  departing  to  France  he  re- 
commended the  project  which  the  Jesuits  had 
so  much  at  heart  to  that  remarkable  character 
in  French-American  history,  Louis  Count  d© 
Froutenac.  That  haughty  noble  had  just  in 
all  bis  pomp  taken  possession  of  the  castle  of 
Quebec  as  Uovernor-Gt  neral  of  New  France. 
Louis  Joliet,  a  young  man  of  education,  skilled 
as  a  h>drographer  and  surveyor,  well  ac- 
quainted witn  theWest,  who  had  already  nearly 
reached  the  bankj  of  tne  Mississippi,  was  com- 
mended by  Talon  to  the  governor  as  a  fit  per- 
son. The  Jesuit  missionaries  were  not  alluded 
to  at  all,  as  the  count  was  strongly  prejudiced 
against  them,  and  would  have  done  nothing  to 
contribute  to  any  result  redounding  to  their 
credit. 

The  oHcial  record  states  that  "  Joliet  was 
sent  to  the  country  of  the  Maskouteing  to 
discover  the  South  sea  and  the  great  river 
they  call  the  Mississippi,  which  is  supposed 
to  discharge  itself  into  the  sea  of  California." 

This  brief  notice  in  Frontenac's  despatch 
shows  how  little  importance  he  really  attached 
to  the  expedition,  and  what  feeble  results  he 
could  have  anticipated. 

Louis  Joliet  set  out  with  no  well-equipped 
scientific  corps  such  as  governments  now  send 
forth ;  he  seems  to  have  gone  alone  with  no 
aid  but  such  as  he  himself  c^uld  command. 
No  appropriation  from  the  treasury  was  made 
lor  an  expedition  that  was  to  lift  the  veil  from 
unknown  America. 

Indeed,  had  the  expedition  been  one  of  pa- 
lade  and  apparent  honor,  some  one  of  the 
petty  courtiers  of  the  petty  court  of  Quebec, 
some  man  boasting  of  rank  or  favor  in  France, 
would  have  been  chosen.  The  mad  plunge 
into  the  unknown  might  be  left  without  jeal- 
ousy to  a  man  who  could  never  be  a  rived— to 
Loiiis  Joliet,  American  born,  American  bred, 
well  educated,  indeed  ;  a  keen  observer  of 
men  and  nature,  unwearied  and  undaunted  in 
peril,  with  the  mathematical  knowledge  to 
map  out  the  discoveries  he  might  make. 

At  Point  St.  Ignace,  where  the  waters  of 
three  lakes  mingle  in  the  straits  of  Mackinaw, 
where  Marquette's  chapel  and  remains  have 
been  so  recs  tly  discovered,  Joliet  stepped 
ashore  one  bleak  December  day.    It  was  the 


f  ''\ 


^ 


Feast  of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  a  day 
especially  dear  to  the  missionary  whom  ho  was 
to  meet,  and  with  whom  the  project  was  one 
of  constant  thought.  As  Marquette  himself 
tells  us  in  the  devotional  oiif  jjouiing  that  cha- 
racterizes his  narrative,  ho  had  for  years 
sought  of  heaven,  in  [irayer  through  Marj, 
grace  to  bear  the  cross  to  the  tribes  on  the 
Mississippi  River.  His  prayers  seemed  an- 
swered, when  issuing  from  fals  chapel  he  met 
Joliet,  who  came  on  this  day  of  all  others, 
with  orders  from  the  governor  and  Intendant 
to  make  the  discovery  with  him. 

No  two  men,  perhaps,  were  better  fitted  ; 
yet  they  spent  the  whole  winter  collecting  all 
possible  information  and  drawing  up  a  preli- 
minary map,  which  would  be  a  treasure  be- 
yond all  price  had  it  survived  for  us  to  gaze 
upon  today.  On  it  they  laid  down  their 
route  to  the  Mississippi,  the  course  of  the  river 
as  they  conjectured  it,  the  affluents  to  be  met 
on  the  way,  the  tribes  they  should  probably 
encounter.  The  names  obtained  were  doubt- 
less mainly  in  the  Ottawa  and  other  Algonquin 
languagps,  and,  transferred  to  their  later  map, 
have  in  many  cases  continued  to  our  times. 

Incidental  illusions  in  Marquette's  brief  and 
unpretentious  narrative  give  us  some  idea  of 
this  map  and  of  the  wonderful  extent  to  which 
the  niissionaries  had  acquired  accurate  knowl- 
edge of  the  country.  He  refers  to  the  lakes 
from  which  the  Mississippi  originated  in  a 
matter-of-fact  way,  as  a  point  already  known, 
although  the  Government  in  our  day  sent  out 
an  expedition  to  verify  the  fact,  when  School- 
craft gave  an  absurd  name  to  the  lake  source. 
They  bad  heard  of  a  great  river  emptying 
into  the  Mississippi  from  the  west,  rising  in  a 
water-thed  that  sent  streams  and  livers  to  the 
Fiicitlc.  All  this  was  laid  down  on  that  map, 
though  no  white  man  had  ever  entered  the 
country.  Thtre  are  many  maps  of  Joliet's  in 
existence,  some  of  which  need  solution,  and 
one  of  them  may  bo  really  this  conjectural 
map,  so  accurate  as  to  be  supposed  the  work 
of  a  later  day. 

When  genial  spring  had  loosed  the  icy  bonds 
that  locked  the  northern  lakes  and  rivers 
they  selected  five  experienced  men  to  paddle 
the  two  stanch  bark  canoes,  which  'had 
doubtless  been  carefully  built  during  the  long 
winter.    Then,  with  no  outfit  but  a  stock  of 


V' 


^ 


8 


dried  meat  and  parched  corn,  the  party  left 
the  strand  of  St.  Ignace.  May  17,  1673.  Pla-- 
ine  his  voyage  under  the  protection  of  Mary, 
as  Marquette  tells  us,  he  promisad  to  give  the 
name  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  to  the 
river,  should  they  succeed  in  exploring  it,  and 
to  the  first  mission  he  might  be  able  to  estab- 
lish. 'I'he  old  Algonquin  name  under  which  he 
first  heard  the  river  spoken  of  has  never 
yielded  to  that  which  his  piety  sugeested,  but 
the  church  in  the  little  ancient  town  of  Kns- 
kaskla,  whose  annals  your  society  has  so  credi- 
tably gathered,  still  shews  that  Father  Mar- 
quette kept  his  vow. 

Across  the  familiar  waters  of  Lake  Michigar, 
through  Green  Bay  and  up  the  Fox  River  they 
sped  their  course  to  a  Miami  and  Kickapoo 
town,  the  limit  of  previous  exploration.  JJu- 
deterred  by  wild  Lidian  stories  of  frightful 
monsters,  of  demons  that  swallowed  all  new- 
comers—tales whosa  meaning  they  were  .'oon 
to  see — accounts  of  heat  so  intense  as  to  k  11 
them,  and  ot  what  was  really  to  be  faared,  war 
parties  eager  for  scalps,  the  explorers,  com- 
mending tnemtel  >s  to  God,  launcher)  their 
canoes  on  the  Wihi^onsin  and  glided  down  its 
current  amid  its  vine-clad  isles,  its  wooded 
and  Draii'ie  shores,  till  fear  was  lost  for  a  time 
in  admiration  of  the  beauties  of  nature.  Their 
entrance  Into  the  unexplored  became  mys- 
terious by  the  utter  absence  of  man  ;  no  sound 
of  human  industry,  no  smoke  of  distant  camr- 
fire  reached  thoir  senses,  strained  to  catch 
every  impression. 

Without  having  encountered  a  human  beinK 
during  their  voyage  down  the  Wisconsin,  they 
beheld  their  canoes  on  the  17th  of  June  glid*^ 
safely  into  the  mighty  river  of  so  many  pray- 
ers and  hopes.  Tliey  gazed  up  its  clear  waters 
as  if  to  scan  the  course  it  took  from  its  north 
em  lakes,  then  turned  their  bows  southward 
aui  with  swelhng  beaits  entered  the  r.ew 
realm.  They  were  on  a  river  broad  and  deep, 
like  no  other  they  had  seen  sinre  they  left  the 
St.  Lawrence.  They  were  on  the  Ikfsaissippi. 
The  prairies,  that  seemed  to  stretch  away  end- 
lessly, teeming  with  game,  with  herds  of 
buffa'O  and  deer,  with  scarcely  a  tree  tr 
mountain  visible,  told  them  that  the  region 
was  diflfc-rtnt  from  all  they  had  yet  known. 
Strange  animals  on  the  shore,  straiicor  fish  in 
the  waters,  excited  their  wonder.    On  and  oq 


Y 


•K 


9 


h 


they  went,  erer  on  the  alerfc,keepine  well  off  the 
shore,  landing  only  at  night  to  light  a  fire  and 
cook  a  frugal  meal.  Thus  the  explorers  in  their 
two  canoes  descended  the  river  mile  after  mile 
till  thr  7  began  to  imagine  themselves  in  a  land 
where  the  face  of  man  was  never  seen.  Thu 
solitude  was  overpowering.  The  fair  land 
they  expected  to  And  studded  with  Indian  vil- 
lages gave  no  souud,  no  sight,  no  symptom  of 
human  life.  It  seemed  like  some  vast  ocean, 
grand,  smiling,  wonderful  after  a  storm  in 
which  it  had  swallowed  up  all  on  its  treacher- 
ous bosom. 

A  week  after  entering  the  nver  they  at  last 
saw  a  trail  in  a  beautiful  prairie.  Joliet  and 
Marquette,  leaving  their  men  in  the  cnnoes, 
landed,  and,  too  full  of  emotion  to  speak,  fo]. 
lowed  the  trail  in  silence.  A  village  wa^  soon 
in  t-iglit  with  clustering  cabins  ;  but  even  here 
an  was  still.  There  was  no  one  to  notice  their 
approach. 

They  haltat  last.  The  Indian  hail  bursts  from 
their  lips.  As  the  shrill  sound  rolls  over  the 
prairie  the  whole  tribe  dash  out  in  amazement. 
Already  the  black  gown  of  the  Jesuit  was 
known  by  name  tu  distant  tribes  that  never 
saw  a  white  man.  Marquette's  cliaracter  was 
at  once  recognized,  and  chiefs  advancing  tell 
him  in  reply  to  his  questions  that  they  are  Illi- 
nois. 

They  then  invite  the  Pr€nch  to  their  village. 
A  naked  sachem  met  them  at  a  cabin  door,  his 
hands  with  open  Angers  held  up  between  him 
and  the  sun.  His  attitude  and  welcome  gave 
Longfellow  one  of  the  most  beautiful  pasrsages 
in  "Hiawatha." 

"How  beautiful  is  the  sun,  O  Frenchman  I 
when  thou  comest  to  visit  us  1  All  our  town 
awaits  thee,  and  thou  sbalt  enter  all  our  cabins 
in  neace." 

This  was  the  noble  welcome  of  the  western 
shore  of  the  Mississippi  to  civilization  and 
Christianifcv.  Then  the  great  calumet  of  pence 
was  smoked,  and  a  friendship  began  that  lime 
never  dimmed. 

When  the  missionary  unfolded  the  o'lj  ct  of 
his  sacred  calling,  the  sacbem  repliid  :  '*  I 
thank  thee,  Blackgown,  and  thee,  Frenchman, 
for  takins;  so  much  pains  to  come  and  vioit  us; 
never  has  the  earth  been  so  beautiful,  nor  the 
sun  so  bright  as  to-day  ;  never  has  our  river 
been  80  calm,  nor  so  free  from  rockH,  which 


10 


your  canoes  have  remoyed  as  they  passed  ; 
never  has  our  tobacco  had  so  fine  a  flavor,  nor 
our  com  appeared  so  beautiful  as  we  behold 
it  to-day.  I  pray  thee,  take  pity  on  me  and 
ail  my  nation.  Thou  knowe^^t  the  Great  Spirit 
who  has  made  us  all,  thou  speakest  to  him  and 
hearest  his  word  ;  ask  him  to  give  me  life  and 
fa.?altb,  and  come  dwell  with  us  that  we  may 
know  him." 

The  spell  of  mysterious  solitude  was  broken. 
They  had  met  a  tribe  of  Indians  to  find  friends 
and  a  welcome.  New  and  valuable  informa- 
tion was  gained,  and  the  Illinois,  after  enter* 
taining  the  missionary  and  bis  party,  presented 
him  a  great  calumet  of  peace. 

They  could  now  advance  with  lighter  b3art8, 
bearing  a  symbol  new  to  them,  but  henceforth 
to  bear  an  important  part  in  history,  the  calu- 
met or  pipe  of  peace. 

Indian  legend  represents  the  great  peace 
pipe  as  a  gift  of  the  Qreat  Spirit  to  men.  Tired 
of  their  wan,  he  bade  them,  as  Longfellow  teUs 
it : 

"  Bary  your  war-clubs  and  yonr  weapons, 
Break  t;ie  red  atone  from  tbis  qaarry, 
MoDld  and  make  it  Into  peace-pipes, 
Take  the  reeds  that  grow  beside  yon, 
Deck  tbem  with  your  brightest  feathers, 
Smoke  tbe  calumet  toeemer, 
And  as  brothers  live  henceforward." 

Cheered  aud  encouraged  by  their  reception, 
the  explorers  sped  on  their  way,  gazing  in  as- 
tonishment at  the  almost  inaccessible  rocks, 
where  some  Indian  artist  had  depicted  in  vivid 
colors  monstrous  forms  which  for  ages  defied 
the  hand  of  time. 

But  while  thev  sailed  down  the  clear,  pure 
waters  of  the  Mississippi,  they  were  startled 
by  a  fearful  noise  that  broke  upon  their  ears. 
They  had  reached  tbe  mouth  of  your  mighty 
river  ;  and  the  Missouri,  swollen  by  a  rainy 
season,  came  bearing  as  trophies  hundreds  of 
trees  torn  from  the  alluvial  banks.  A  these 
shot  out  into  the  Mississippi,  forming  little 
islands  as  they  matted  togetner,  the  explorers 
were  startled.  It  was  a  more  fearful  sight 
than  they  had  yet  encountered,  a  real  danger 
in  which  they  beheld  the  devouring  monster 
described  in  tbe  imagination  of  the  Indian. 

The  great  Missouri— Pekitanoui,  as  Mar- 
inette calls  it— took  its  place  in  geography. 
As  we  have  seen,  Marquette  was  already  in- 


11 


formed  as  to  its  course,  and  the  fact  that  near 
its  sources  were  streams  flowing  into  the  Paci- 
fic. He  notes  this  true  theory  simply  with  no 
parade  or  pretence,  but  merely  with  a  pious 
wiso  that  he  might  be  able  in  person  to  test 
the  practicability  of  the  route  which  he  in- 
dicated, and  which  in  our  century  Lewis  and 
Clarke  explored. 

Past  the  mouth  of  the  turbid  Missouri,  past 
a  dreaded  whirlpool,  past  the  Ohio  chat  came 
from  the  land  of  the  8hawnees,  as  he  knew 
and  notes,  on  to  the  land  where  canebrakes 
lined  the  shores  and  mosquitoes  swarmed  in 
myriads.  Days  again  without  seeing  any  sign 
of' man,  till  a  hostile  demonstration  is  made 
from  the  shore  by  a  roving  band  with  guns, 
axes,  and  other  European  articles,  bought  from 
white  settlements  on  the  east,  Florida  or  Caro- 
lina. 

It  was  not  till  they  had  nearly  reached  the 
mouth  of  the  St.  Francis  that  they  found 
the  second  village,  the  castle  of  the  Metchl- 
gamea  tribe.  The  Iliiuois  had  been  friendly. 
These  Indians  evim.'ed  every  sign  of  hostility. 
The  war-cry  was  raised,  braves  lined  tne 
banks,  while  others,  launching  their  great  dug- 
out canoes,  pushed  out  into  the  stream  to  arrest 
their  progress  and  prevent  their  flight.  In 
vain  tue  missionary  held  out  tbe  calumet  of 
peace,  a  war-club  was  hurled  at  him,  and  ex- 
pecting to  be  riddled  by  volleys  of  arrows,  the 
belplebS  white  men  commended  themselves  to 
their  patroness  and  guide,  the  Blessed  Virgin 
Immaculate.  At  once  the  sachems  stilled  the 
storm,  chiefs  advanced,  and,  throwing  their 
bows  and  arrows  into  the  canoes,  drew  them 
to  tlie  shore.  Through  one  who  spoke  Illinois, 
the  explorers  told  their  mission,  and  asked 
how  far  they  were  from  the  sea.  liut  there 
was  little  thete  men  could  tell  the  French. 
Taey  referred  them  to  the  Quappas  or  Ar- 
kansas, some  twenty -flve  miles  below,  then, 
regaling  the  explorers  with.corn  and  flsh,  sent 
them  on  tlieir  way. 

An  Aikansas  canoe  came  out  to  welcome 
them,  a  chief  flourishing  the  great  calumet  of 
peace.  This  was  a  prelude  to  a  hearty  wel- 
come at  tbeir  village  on  the  eastern  shore. 
Here,  too,  the  explorers  found  proofs  of  Euro- 
pean intercourse,  though  it  proved  to  be  only 
through  other  tribes,  as  hostile  nations  cut 
off  the  Arkansas  from  all  approach  to  white 


n 


settlements.  They  were  now  in  Indian  calcu- 
lation only  ten  days'  sail  from  the  mouth  of 
the  Mississippi,  which  each  tells  us  he  be- 
lieved they  could  accomplish  in  half  that 
time. 

They  rested  for  a  day  in  this  town  of  naked 
men  and  ill-clad  women,  who  lived  by  the 
butfalo  hunt,  raising  only  com  and  melons  ; 
their  long  bark  cabins  showing  no  signs  of 
cjiy  art  but  pottery.  Meanwhile  Marquette 
^nd  Joliet  dehberated  on  tbeir  further  course. 
They  were  nearing  the  range  of  the  Spaniards, 
ever  jealous  of  any  encroachment  within  the 
limits  they  claimed.  They  had  acquired 
much  information  in  regard  to  more  than 
eighty  lidian  villages,  although  they  saw  so 
few,  they  had  traced  the  river  and  knew  its 
general  direction,  its  branches,  the  condition 
of  the  countiy,  the  paucity  of  the  Indian 
tribes  on  the  upper  waters,  and  had  establish- 
ed to  a  certainty  that  the  river  entered  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico.  Only  a  few  hundred  miles 
more  lay  between  them  and  the  gulf.R 

Should  thev  go  on  and  reach  the  mouth  at 
the  risk  of  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  Spani- 
ards, which  meant  perpetual  imprisonment ; 
or  should  they,  satisfied  with  having  bolved 
the  gieat  question  so  long  debated  among  the 
explorer?  of  the  West,  return  and  report  what 
had  been  accomplished  ?  As  we  now  know, 
their  fear  of  the  Spaniards  was  groundless, 
but  the  tribes  near  t'ue  mouth  might  never 
have  allowed  them  to  escape  with  life,  and 
they  evidently  had  not  counted  fully  the  labor 
of  that  midsummer  ascent  of  the  Mississippi. 

They  decided  to  return,  and  after  that  brief 
rest  in  the  Arkansas  village  on  Indian  Point, 
Mississippi,  they  gathered  once  more  on  the 
shore  by  their  northern-built  canoes.  It  wnA 
the  17th  day  of  July,  1678,  jui*-  two  hundred 
and  five  years  ago,  the  mome'' .  ^bat  we  have 
met  to-day  to  commemorate,  xt  was  the 
crowning  point  of  the  work  of  Joliet  and 
Marquette.  They  had  borne  the  cross  of 
Christendom  and  the  arms  of  France  down 
the  Mississippi  almost  to  its  mouth  ;  they  bad 
won  the  friendship  of  unknown  tribes  ;  they 
had  learned  the  topography  of  the  great  valley 
and  mapped  out  the  river,  its  tributaries,  lie 
towns  and  tribes  ;  they  knew  itB  resources. 

To-day  they  began  their  triumphal  voyage 
home,  rich  in  good  done,  and  in  valuable  in- 


18 


formation  acquired,  grand  aud  peace  ui  con- 
querors of  the  Mississippi,  noble  Marquette 
and  nobl«  .loli^t. 

S'uce  the  discovery  of  Marquette's  remains 
at  Fointe  Saint  Ignace  steps  have  been  taken 
to  rear  a  monument  there  to  show  the  spot 
whence  the  expedition  started,  the  spot  to 
which  the  missionary  explorer,  dying  like  a 
brave  soldier,  doing  duty  to  his  latest  breath, 
was  borne  from  his  temporary  tomb. 

This  society  may  well  rear  a  modest  monu- 
ment at  Indian  Point— Point  Joliet,  let  us  call 
it — to  ma  k  the  termination  of  this  adventur- 
ous voyage,  and  record  that  there,  July  17, 
1673,  Marquette  aad  Joliet  considered  their 
task  accomplished  in  solving  the  great  ques- 
tion. One  tace  of  the  monument  may  also 
record  that  not  far  from  that  spot  long  lay,  in  an 
unknown  grave,  the  remains  of  Pierre  Ligueste 
Laclede,  tne  founder  of  St.  Louis. 

To-day  Hissouri  recognizes  fully  the  title  of 
Joliet  and  Marquette  as  the  first  explorei  s,  as 
Wisconsin  has  already  done.  Clear  as  the  evi- 
dence was,  the  followers  of  La  Salle  in  the 
seventeenth  centur.)  disputed  their  claim.  In 
our  day  the  Normans,  Margry  and  Gravier, 
renew  the  controversy,  raismg  a  host  of  sha- 
dowy claims  which  vanish  wnen  you  try  to 
grasp  tliem,  each  more  unsubstantial  than  the 
last.  They  have  only  led  to  searches  which 
brought  to  ligtit  maps  and  documents  substan- 
tiating by  a  chain  of  testimony  the  claim  of 
the  two  whom  we  honor. 

Launching  their  canoes  amid  the  farewells 
of  their  Arkansas  friends,  they  began  to  stem 
the  current  of  the  river.  They  had  de.  tended 
the  Mississippi  for  more  than  a  thousand  miles, 
borne  onward  by  its  current ;  now,  in  the 
midst  of  the  heats  of  July,  they  were  to  toil 
painfully  up.  We  have  few  details  of  this  te- 
dious passage,  this  long  struggle  of  mcH  weak- 
ened by  the  heats  and  conflinemeut  in  a  canoe  ; 
days  passed  in  the  same  monotonous  way.  The 
shore  offered  no  refuge  in  its  swampy  margin  ; 
no  haven  appeared  where  they  could  refresh 
and  recruit  till  reaching  the  mouth  of  the  Illi- 
nois River.  Here  they  entered  a  gentler 
stri^am  with  inviting  banks,  a  perfect  paradise 
in  their  eyes. 

At  old  Kaskaskia,  on  the  upper  waters  of  the 
Illinois,  Marquette  rested  to  inaugurate  a  mis- 
sion ;  and,  guided  thence  to  Lake  Michigan, 


14 


the  two  explorers  reached  Green  Bay  in  Sep- 
tember, worn  out  with  exposure— Marquette, 
indeed,  with  the  seeds  of  a  fatal  malady  in  his 
system. 

While  that  mipsionary  resumed  his  labors  at 
his  Mackinac  chapel,  Jolieti  in  the  spj  ing  de- 
scended to  Montreal,  but  at  the  Lachine  rapids 
his  canoe  turued,  three  of  his  party  perished, 
and  his  box  of  papers  and  maps  relating  to  the 
West  was  engulf  el  for  ever.  He  himself,  after 
four  hours'  struggle  in  the  wate",  was  rescued 
in  an  insensible  condition  by  some  fishermen. 
He  had  passe<'  through  a  thousand  dangers, 
descended  nearly  fifty  rapids  on  his  way  to 
meet  this  terrible  disaster  in  sight  of  Montreal. 

Marquette's  map  and  his  narrative,  imbued 
with  aft  his  tender  piety  and  unselfish  devo- 
tion, alone  survived.  It  is  a  cbarming  picture 
of  a  pure,  good  man,  who  can  never  be  sus- 
pected of  making  a  false  claim. 

Joliet  drew  up  a  brief  account  of  his  discov- 
eries, and  solicited  frora  thekinga  grant  in  the 
vast  territory  which  he  had  added  to  the  realm 
of  France.  He  was  curtiy  refused,  and  no  re- 
ward was  bestowed  upon  him  until  later  ser- 
vices in  various  fields  compelled  a  tardy  ac- 
knowledgment. 

Laclede  fulfllJed  his  wish.  Born  in  Quebec, 
and  baptized  in  the  shadow  of  the  cathedral 
dedicated  to  St.  Louis  and  the  Immaculate 
Conception,  Joliet  received  the  name  of  the 
saintea  king  of  France,  and  had  his  monarcn 
permitted  him  to  colonize  this  land  he  would 
certainlj'  have  founded  a  city  of  Ht.  Louis. 

Marquette  sought  no  guerdon.  Though 
broken  in  health,  he  kept  his  promise  to  the 
Illinois.  He  set  out  for  Kaskaskia,  but  was 
forced  to  winter  at  Chicago,  where  his  hut  was 
the  first  white  habitation  and  chapel.  Ac 
Kaskaskia  he  telt  tbat  his  death  was  at  hand, 
and  endeavored  to  reach  his  chapel  at 
Mackinac.  As  his  faithful  men  conveyed  him 
along  the  shore  of  Lake  Michigan  he  pointed 
out  a  place  for  his  burial,  and  bade  them  put 
him  ashore.  Beneath  a  rude  bark  shelter  lie 
breathed  his  lust.  He  had  given  instructions 
for  his  burial,  consoled  his  companions,  and 
the  last  act  o!  his  ministry  was  to  hear  their 
confessions.  He  prepared  for  death  cheer- 
fully, thanking  God  that  he  died  bereft  of  all 
human  comfort  and  died  in  the  society  of 
Jesus.  With  his  eyes  raised  abqv<j  his  crucifix, 


15 


as  if  fixed  on  some  beloved  object,  with  a 
counteiiaiioe  all  radiant  with  Finiles,  the  dis- 
coverer of  the  Mississippi  expired  vpithout  a 
struegle. 

Two  years  after  his  Ottawa  Indians,  passing 
that  way,  took  uj^  his  body,  cleansed  the 
bones,  and,  putting  them  in  a  box  of  bark,  con- 
veyed them  to  Point  St.  Ignace.  where  they 
were  with  solemn  rite  deposited  in  a  little 
vault  in  the  middle  of  the  church.  This  edi- 
fice was  burned  down  in  1700,  and  in  time  all 
trace  of  the  site  and  of  Marquette's  tomb  was 
lost,  till  last  year,  when  the  Rev,  Edward 
Jacfeer  discovered  and  identified  both,  but 
oidy  to  find  that  the  tomb  had  been  rifled, 
evidently  by  soma  Indian  medicine  man,  who 
wished  the  br-nes  of  the  great  priest  as  a 
magical  powe*/.  The  remnants  of  the  box  and 
some  fragment?  of  bones  were  piously  gath- 
ered to  be  pi  need  under  a  monument  in  his 
honor. 

And  where  does  Joliet  lie  ?  We  trace  him 
by  his  still  extant  maps  of  the  Western  coun- 
try ;  then  exploring  the  Saguenay  to  Hud- 
son's bay  and  mapping  it  ;  obtaining  a  grant 
of  the  Mingnn  Isles  and  of  Anticosti ;  t-ngaged 
in  fisheries;  making  charts  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence and  of  Labrador  ;  his  establishments  all 
destroyed  by  Phips  ;  visiting  France  in  1695 
and  appointed  kinc's  hydrogi^pher  at  Quebec. 
He  died  apparently  in  1700,  and  lies  in  an  un- 
honored  tomb  on  the  Mingan  Isles. 

The  family  of  Marquetle  still  exists  in 
Prance,  proud  of  one  who  added  such  lustre  to 
thpir  name.  The  descendants  of  Joliet  hav« 
filled  many  places  of  honor  in  Canada  down 
to  our  day  l;oth  in  Church  and  state,  and  at 
this  very  moment  the  archbishop  of  the  ancient 
see  of  Quebec  and  the  archbishop  of  St.  Boni 
face  in  Manitoba  claim  descent  from  Louis 
Joliet. 

Cortes  once  pushed  his  way  to  the  carriage 
of  Charles  V.,  and  when  the  emperor  king 
haughtily  demanded,  "  Who  are  you  ? "  the 
coi  queror  of  Mexico  replied  as  haughtily  : 
"  One  who  gave  you  more  kingdoms  than  your 
aucpstors  left  you  provinces.'* 

Marqueito  and  Joliet,  ignored  bj-^  Louis 
XIV.,  might,  ami  the  gay  circle  of  his  cour- 
tiers, have  told  him  the  same.  Their  peacelul 
•conquest  eave  into  the  grasp  of  France  the 
two  great  river  systems  of  North  Americn , 


16 


the  8t.  Lawrence  and  Mississippi.  In  the 
valley  of  the  Mississippi  alone,  the  loveliest, 
richest  and  most  wonderful  on  earth,  they 
gave  France  what,  had  she  known  how  to  use 
it,  would  have  made  her  the  mightiest  and 
happiest  of  nations.  No  other  river  on  earth 
traverses  like  the  Mississippi  every  variety  of 
climate,  no  other  vfllley  is  so  evenly  watered, 
so  rich  in  gold,  silver,  lead,  iron,  ard  coal ; 
none  has  a  more  fertile  soil,  scenery  more 
grand  and  picturesque,  none  greater  advant- 
ages for  commerce. 

Yet  Prance  overlooked  all  this.  Even  La 
Salle,  who  followed  Marquette  and  Joliet,  aris- 
tocrat trying  to  be  a  mei  chant,  courtier  aspir- 
ing to  rule,  eager  for  a  title,  but  with  no  idea 
ot  founding  a  state,  with  the  whole  valley  of 
the  Mississippi  in  his  hand — ^tbis  man  left  it  to 
land  in  Texas  and  waste  men  and  time,  and 
flnallj^  life,  in  a  vain  attempt  to  reach  and  rob 
the  mines  of  Santa  Barbara,  like  a  buccaneer. 

Looking  back  at  the  early  history  of  this 
continent,  we  can  only  wonder  at  the  utter 
lack  of  all  wisdom  evinced  by  European  gov- 
ernments in  their  American  affairs.  They 
never  understood  the  value  of  this  country"; 
they  never  undei  stood  colonization  or  its  prin- 
ciples. Not  an  English  statesman  was  a  states- 
man for  A  merica  ;  not  one  in  France.  The 
wisdom  of  England's  pjreat  philosopher,  when 
te>-ted  on  an  American  state,  was  folly.  It  is 
strange,  and  yet  it  is  true,  that  the  only  En- 
glishman who  seems  to  have  formed  any  idea 
of  the  future  greatness  of  America,  who  at- 
tempted to  increase  it,  bind  all  the  colonies  ici- 
to  one  great  state,  and  wrest  from  France  the 
sway  which  impeded  English  expansion,  was 
the  s  'Vereign  who  of  ill  others  is  pointed  at  as 
a  man  of  incapacity,  James  II.,  the  last  of  the 
Stuarts. 

The  explorers  of  the  Mississippi,  in  laying 
that  valley  at  the  feet  of  Louis  XIV.,  might 
have  said  :  "Another  Jacquerie  is  at  hand. 
Your  people,  wasted  by  long  wars,  ere  doublv 
waated  by  the  prevailing  extra vaeanca  and 
licentiousness  of  the  upper  classes.  Prance 
cannot  support  her  children.  Create  a  new 
France  in  this  glorious  part  of  America.  See 
what  has  prospered  there  and  what  has  failed. 
Onlv  communities  hound  by  some  vital  tie 
thrive  and  succeed,  while  chance  emigration, 
where  whole  families  do  not  go  together  with 


17 


all  the  elements  of  a  commanity,  fail  or  pine. 
New  England  with  her  settlers  forming  a  com- 
munity of  families,  bound  by  a  deep  religious 
bond,  with  every  trade,  with  church  and 
school,  prospers  on  the  almost  sterile  coast. 
Canada  owns  her  presisrvation  and  progress 
both  at  Quebeo  and  Montreal  to  the  same  reli- 
gious and  cornmunity  elements.  From  some 
exhausted  province  in  France,  from  that  Aca- 
dian shore  in  America  where  England  threa- 
tens a  noble  community  of  colonists,  trans- 
plant whole  villages  to  the  Mississippi  valley — 
farmers  with  their  families  and  implen^ents  of 
agriculture,  carpenters  with  their  tools,  the 
hlaclcsmith  with  nis  smithy,  the  teacher  to  con- 
tinue his  school,  the  clergyman  to  resume  his 
wonted  duties.  Under  their  industry  the  land 
will  yield  beyond  all  calculation.  France 
can  then  support  her  chilaren,  and  those  wno 
have  gone  will  form  a  new  France,  strong  in 
itself  and  strengthening  the  old." 

But  France  did  nothing.  Her  only  course 
was  to  cripple  colonization  by  leaving  the  land 
of  Marquette  and  Joliet  to  great  soulless  com- 
panies. 

She  neglected  the  Acadians,  England  could 
afford  to  send  ships  to  carry  off  seven  thou- 
sand and  scatter  them  in  destitution  through 
her  colonies.  France  had  not  forecast  or  gene- 
rosity enough  to  transport  them  with  their 
household  goods  to  this  valley,  where  they 
would  have  become  great  and  powerful,  hav- 
ing in  themselves  every  element  of  success. 
If  the  few  stragglers  who  revived  Acadia  in 
Louisiana  throve  and  prospered,  who  can  esti- 
mate the  progress  to  be  made  by  the  whole 
Acadian  population  transferred  under  favora- 
ble circumstances  ? 

The  English  colonies  that  prospered  from 
the  outset  were  those  where  families  settled 
bound  by  some  potent  tie — New  England, 
Maryland,  Pennsylvania — elsewhere  only 
when  moulded  by  disaster  into  a  community. 
The  English  Government  did  nothing.  When 
Townsliend  described  the  American  colonies 
an  "  children  planted  by  our  care,  nourisLed 
up  by  our  indulgence,  and  protected  by  our 
^rmH,"  Burke,  in  a  strain  of  indignant  ora- 
tory, showed  the  fallacy  of  it  all,  yet  even  he 
did  not  see  the  true  element,  '.<he  family  as  the 
basis  of  the  community,  the  community  of  the 
state,  with  some  potent  tie,  some  deep  princi- 


18 


nie  holding  the  families  together,  higher  and 
greater  than  patriotism  or  love  of  countrj'. 

Even  at  our  revolution  there  was  no  English 
btatesman  able  to  consider  what  a  series  of 
communities  which,  amid  all  the  struggles  and 
trials  of  early  settlement,  Iiad  risen  in  a  cen- 
tury and  a  half  from  a  handful  to  six  millions 
of  people  would  with  more  favorable  circum- 
stances become  in  another  century.  There  was 
no  man  in  Qreat  Britain  wise  eiioush  to  look 
beyond  the  petty  questions  on  which  ih.-y  im- 
perilled an  empire,  and  to  attempt  to  shape 
the  destinies  of  America,  so  as  to  render  it 
happy  in  it«elf  and  a  tower  of  strength  to  En- 
gland. 

While  Great  Britain  showed  such  utter  want 
of  statesmen,  we  look  in  vain  for  them  in 
France  or  Spain.  Even  Colbert  and  Talon 
aimed  only  at  trade.  No  French  minister  ever 
studied  for  a  day  how  to  make  the  Mississippi 
Valley  the  granary,  the  mine  of  France.  Ac- 
quired Without  an  effort  on  her  part,  it  was 
as  lightly  lost.  France  l^ff  England  and  Spain 
to  tUant  on  the  opposite  banks  of  the  great 
river  their  standards,  so  typical  of  adverse 
ideas,  alike  only  in  misgoverning  America. 

England  did  nothing  for  the  eastern  shore, 
Spain  nothing  for  the  western.  We  find  in  that 
period  no  great  aid  rendered  to  your  progress. 
TUe  foundation  of  your  city  was  tlie  last  wav'e 
of  the  old  Canadian  element,  French  in  name 
and  origin  whon  the  power  and  the  flag  of 
France  nod  fallen. 

In  the  colonies  on  the  coast  was  the  germ  of 
the  grea%  republic.  An  expansion  of  the  old 
system  of  communities,  it  soon  swelled  beyond 
the  narrow  borders  hemmed  in  by  the  AUe- 
ghenies.  With  this  inherent  life  of  its  own, 
absorbing,  adapting  to  its  formed  community, 
un  1  imbuing  with  its  spirit  every  new  element 
it  has  in  a  hundred  years  made  the  great  val- 
ley rich  beyond  compare. 

It  is  not  tor  me  to  depict  what  you  are  to- 
day, what  the  multitudinous  States  have  ac- 
complished and  are  accomplishing.  Still  less 
is  it  mine  to  attempt  to  pierce  the  future  and 
estimate  the  jireatness  or  a  century  hence.  I 
can  only  rejoice  in  your  greatness  and  prospe- 
rity, and  looking  back  at  the  proi?ress  of  two 
centuries,  express  my  fervent  wish  and  hope 
that  two  centuries  hence  will  show  undimmed 
prosperity,  founded  on  the  highest  and  truest 
lirinciples. 


>!*'.  ^- ■ 


•"<'i  .,  , 


'^■<^-.' 


,^;r^;.".:.' ;  "'^'J: ' , 


■  ,j     > 


■;      ■;•'  y,,- 


:y.  ,' 


■  (•-,;■;  .v>-" 


.  ^ 


'i»3'*r> 


